Spaghetti Alla Carbonara

Recently a friend of my wife asked about spaghetti alla Carbonara.  Her husband who had been in the Military, stationed in Italy, began to eat this dish there and became a fan.  Well what can you do about it?  La Carbonara is one of the great culinary inventions.  The roots of this dish are many but one makes sense.  Many claim, and I have no reason to doubt them, that the name Carbonara comes from the obvious name "Coal Woman".  Carbone is Coal.  The ending -ara in carbon-ara denotes a trade but in the feminine.  If it were a male it would be aro or "Carbon-aro".  Anyway a Coal Woman, a woman who would trade in coal, would often times be seen picking coal where it had been dropped by the transport vehicle (a cart or a Train).  The fact was that a woman, who dealt in this trade, was poor...and probably a widow.  The ingredients denote poverty.  Eggs were the sign of the poor. Always readily available, nutritious and cheap to get.  If you owned a chicken they were “free”.  Whatever the real story is the Carbonara it is a great dish.  Simple, delicious, easy to make and inexpensive.  It is the tetrapharmacon of cuisine.

The Talismano’s recipe is the traditional one.  Today in Italy some do add cream.  It does add a bit of moisture and the egg does not clump up as much.  Some instead use a little pasta water instead.  Both options are good, for American tastes.  For some reason we seem to have been brought up with the idea that pasta must be buried in a sauce.  I will place it in the “optional” category.

Please read all before cooking.  You need to plan ahead.

Spaghetti Alla Carbonara

For 6 People

600g of Spaghetti (1.6 lbs of spaghetti or one bag and a quarter)

3 Eggs

200g of Pancetta (1/2 pound) (Salt pork)

30g of Butter (1.5 oz)

30g of Olive Oil (1.5 oz) (Always Extra Virgin)

50g Half cup of ground Parmigiano (1.8 oz) (Ada Boni’s Talismano permits Pecorino, I do not)

(Optional 1) ¼ cup of heavy cream

(Optional 2) ¼ cup of Pasta Water

Salt

Black Pepper

Beat and mix in a bowl the eggs, add the Parmigiano (Parmesan), and a teaspoon of Black Pepper. Here you may use option (1) one and add a little cream.  Option (2) two the pasta water would not be appropriate at all.  It would destroy your recipe.

Cut the pancetta in tiny squares less than a ¼ inch in size.  Please very tiny.  Do not omit the fat.

Fry them in the olive oil and butter at low heat.  Once nicely browned allow to cool.  Here is where I diverge from the Talismano.  Boni tells you to add the Pancetta to the eggs and Parmesan…I do not.  You will add them directly to the pasta.  Cook the pasta in well-salted water.  Once cooked remove the pasta from the water (option 2 [adding the pasta water] may be used here, but not if you have used option 1 already), add the pancetta with all the oil and then immediately add the egg/parmigiano/pepper mix also.  Remember to do this immediately.  The hot pasta has to cook the eggs.  Mix everything together slowly but well using a couple of forks.  Serve immediately.

Buona Sera

Ossobuco Alla Milanese

Ossobuco Alla Milanese is obviously a dish from Milan.  It means “Bone Hole”. As many Northern Italian dishes go Olive Oil is often lacking.  By North I mean north of the river Po.  Obviously Tuscany is a northern province, but they use olive oil in their cuisine.  Milan is in Lombardy.  There Butter is king, just like French cuisine.  In this recipe butter will be used.

Ossobuco Alla Milanese

For 6 people

6 Ossobuco

150g of Butter

Water

Flour

One Glass of White Wine

Parsley

Lemon Zest

2 Garlic cloves

2 Anchovies (Used as a spice…never omit)

Beef Broth

Salt

Pepper

Ossobuco Is the Veal Shank (fleshy) with the bone and marrow attached.  Difficult to find, and because of that I often buy Beef Shank.  Since it is not commonly used by Americans except for making broth you should be able to find it for fewer than three dollars a pound.

Place half the butter requested in a pan with fairly high sides (you will need this when you add the broth and wine).  Make sure that you have a series of tiny cuts on the end of the Ossobuco.  This will keep it from curling up in case there is a little connective tissue on the meat.

Place them in flour and at moderate heat braze the meat.  Remember Butter can burn so not so high.

Once you reach a dark blond color salt and pepper them.

Pour the wine in, a glass if I remember correctly and once all evaporated cover them with water all the way up until it just covers the Ossobuco. Cover and let cook for one hour or there about on low heat.

Once done that you will find that the water has partially evaporated.

Take the anchovy, the lemon zest, the parsley, and the two garlic cloves and crush them (mash then all in a mortar and pestle).  Add to the mixture and add some broth.  A half-cup of broth should suffice and cook an additional five minutes making sure you deglaze the bottom of the pan with the broth.  Add some additional fresh butter and serve with Risotto Alla Milanese…Ok, maybe not now.  Just some hot buttered rice with a little Parmigiano will do.  Next week Risotto Alla Milanese!

Buona Sera

Trouble Cooking Anything?

By now if you have cooked some of these recipes you probably have had a problem with some.  Cooking is an art form not a mathematical science.  As mentioned earlier measurements are good for baking but not good for cooking food.  The problem, as earlier stated on this blog, is that all things of the same thing are organic and may have different properties.  Do not become discouraged.  When learning from reading only it is more difficult.
The secret is to persevere.  Trust your judgement.  If, for example the gnocchi you made are falling apart you may have used too little flour or too few eggs (if you used a recipe that requires eggs).  If the gnocchi are too rubbery you may have used too much flour or too many eggs (and sometimes a potato that is not crumbly and dry).  The secret is to be aware of your ingredients, to know what your process was and how to enhance one trait.  Remember it may take you two to three times with a recipe to get it right.  This is very common.  A good Chef perseveres, and so should you.  Remember to try and try again.
Buona Sera.

Peperoni Sott'Olio (Roasted Peppers under oil)

Peperoni Sott'olio are perhaps the most delicious thing you will ever have.
The term Sottt'olio means Sotto Olio or "Under Oil".  this was a process of preserving vegetables before refrigeration.  Putting things under oil did not allow bacteria or oxygen to spoil your stuff.
Preservation methods in the old days commonly used were:  Drying, Salting, pickling (vinegar) or Oil (fat).
Some great recipes have grown out of preservation techniques.  This is one of them.

Peperoni Sott'olio

8 Red Peppers
8 Cloves of Garlic
Extra virgin Olive oil
Sea salt

Roast red peppers in oven (bake) at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Any sweet mature pepper will do...that does not include green peppers.  They are not mature.  Roast them as they are naturally do not clean them or cut them.  They are ready to take out of the oven when you start seeing the skin begin to turn black.  Usually about a half an hour sometimes a little more.
Remove the roasted peppers from the oven and place them hot in a paper bag.  This will make the skin soft and make them easy to peal.  When cooled down, take the peppers and peel the skin away from them (this is fairly easily done just by using your nails and raising an edge).  Remove all seeds, and do not rinse them under water. Here you can use a paper towel as a brush.  This process can be tedious but it is well worth the work.
Crush all garlic (In Italy it is usually slices but I prefer crushed). Take a large jar (or deep dish if you are planning on serving them soon) and begin to layer the garlic and peppers with some oil and a pinch of sea salt for every layer.  After you are finished with all your layers cover up with at least a half inch of oil so no air hits the peppers.
These peppers should not be refrigerated.  Keep them at least two days before serving.  Serve on top of a good French or Italian bread (this means it has a crust on it!).
Buona Sera

Patate al Forno con Rosmarino (Rosemary Potatoes)

If Rosemary is not in your body of spices, get it!  The three fresh spices that are a necessity, period, are Fresh Basil, Fresh Rosemary and Fresh Sage.  Most others can be dry.  To have these you need to have these plants in your garden.  Sage can handle even the worst winters.  Rosemary may have to be taken in, in the winter.  Basil is an annual, and unfortunately rarely lives on during winter even indoors...and if it does it has rather unimpressive leaves.  With Basil I suggest taking all the leaves at the end of the growing cycle and placing them in hot water for just 30 seconds.  Then vacuum pack them or put them in a zip-lock bag and freeze them.  This will give you all the fresh Basil you will need for the winter.  Drying them is useless.  Dry Basil is just crap.
But let's move on to Potatoes.  This potato recipe is easy.

Patate al forno con Rosmarino (Rosemary Potatoes).

For six people.

(6) large potatoes

(1) cup of extra virgin Olive oil

(3) small branches of Rosemary

Sea Salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.  Wash the potatoes well under cold water.  Dice into inch and a half squares with the skin on.
Dry with a paper towel and place in an oven pan that can handle that quantity. Pour Olive oil on potatoes and pull leaves of rosemary off the branch and sprinkle them on the potatoes.  Add Sea Salt.  Take your hands and mix everything around well.
Every 20 minutes mix potatoes up...make sure you use a good scraping device like a metal spatula.  This will ensure that you do not tear them up.
Cook until golden brown and serve (approximately one hour).

Buona Sera

Wine: A Poor introduction

Wine is difficult.  I have tasted a wine one day, found it delicious, only to try it the following week and being disappointed.  In general it is difficult to understand.  That is it's great innate beauty.  That complicated element we try to describe to people, only to be shot down or to find out later that maybe you were wrong.
If you are buying the common wine magazines drop them like a bad habit; which they are.  I found the idea of describing a wine as having "chocolate overtones" and "vanilla" as being so out there that I am without words.  In essence "de Gustibus non est Disputandum" or you cannot argue over taste.  So ultimately all is a matter of taste and opinion.  In the end you need to like it.  But I must say that if you begin to describe something complicated as wine with "chocolate" then I suggest you read Wittgenstein, stop speaking and just begin to point at things.  Words have no meaning anymore to you.
My experience with wine is prejudiced.  I have drunk the stuff since I was a little boy.  Unfortunately most of the time watered down with mineral water.  For me most wines have to have the aroma and taste of wine.  I simply say that.  I will not go into "finish" and other terms now.  The problem is that if you do not know what wine should taste like, you have a long journey ahead.  For me wine is cultural.  To learn it in your 20's and 30's is almost impossible.  I said almost!
The first thing one should do when learning wines is to buy Italian.  Yeah, I bet you are saying what is this guy just an Italophile.  I am not.  I say that because Italian wines usually taste like wine even the crappy ones.  After a while you will be able to distinguish good from great.  There are some french wines that are excellent and perhaps even better (though I think the best in the worlds just happens to be Italian).  The problem with some french wines is they taste "Californian".  I probably blame Robert Parker, a name I only learned recently in my short life as a wine connoisseur. But the likes of Parker have affected the French wine industry.  He now dictates what will sell and what will not sell in the US, France's most important market.  Parker is the classic man who seems to know wines, but has no real culture in it.  Many french wines have lost their way due to their "marketing".
Buy Italian.  Italians do not care about that kind of marketing.  Perhaps because of ignorance, I do not know.  But I can tell you that if you buy a 10-20 dollar bottle of Italian wine you will get it after a while.  through in a california bottle every month to get to know the difference.  Yet as a mainstay do stay away from French and California until you get an idea of what wine should taste like, then explore California's fruit-forward taste or France's unique quality.  Some of you that have been raised on Kool-Aid will probably never get it, just like some beer drinkers...but try...do not give up.
In all honesty, you will find good wines anywhere.  The problem is knowing what you are looking for.  Take your time.  Keep your mouth shut.  Drink it with good food and do not make one wine "your wine"...Ever.

Buona Sera

Coniglio Alla Cacciatora (Rabbit Cacciatora...or Chicken)

Yes you read it right...Rabbit!  Today it seems that the bunny is safe from the hands of men...at least in the culinary world.  People for some reason have an issue with eating Thumper.  As much as I think Rabbits are cute, they are also delicious.  But here I will use chicken not rabbit.  The reason is not to spare Thumper, but because Rabbit is readily unavailable (a positive and a negative?).  So on to the common, but delicious Chicken.
The recipe for Cacciatora grew out of the fact that Rabbits then did not taste like rabbits today.  They were gamier.  Often this recipe was used on wild rabbits.  This recipe is also excellent for gamey birds like duck (wild duck that is), but not specifically good for tasteless birds such as Pheasant.
The use of vinegar and wine is used to cut the gamey flavor, but it also gives an un-gamey bird like chicken a delicious taste.
One thing I must insist.  There is the use of capers and anchovies.  I know the american tendency to detest both.  Do not omit these two.  The capers give a lovely aroma to the bird and the Anchovy is used as a spice.  Make it and no one will even know anchovy is in there.
For those who have gone to "Boater" Italian Restaurants, you have probably had Chicken Cacciatora with tomato sauce and melted cheese.  This is not it.  Boaters learned early on that when dealing with an uneducated palate you just dump ton of sauce and a ton of cheese and you have a winner.  That and the fact most boaters knew nothing about the true Cacciatora, and only knew that Alla Cacciatora meant  Alla "Hunter". Strangely for them that meant Cheese and Tomatoes.
Onward!

Coniglio Alla Cacciatora (or for you Chicken Cacciatora)

For 6 people

Two Pound Chichen cut into parts (Rabbit for the ones that can find it)

Sage (Fresh Chopped and a handful)

2 cloves of Garlic (in Italy the recipe is for one...believe me two here)

1 small glass of red wine Vinegar (3/4 cup) or balsamic.

!/2 a small glass of red wine Vinegar (1/2 cup) or balsamic.

1 small glass of water (One cup)

Olive Oil, Half a glass (Half a cup)

2.5 oz of Capers

3 small Anchovies Chopped finely

Potato Starch

Salt

Pepper

Wash the cut pieces of meat (remove the skin if it is chicken.  It will fall off anyway) and dry well with paper towel.
Pour the Olive oil in a large but shallow pan, heat and add the meat.
Add the sage and garlic and begin to brown the meat on medium high heat.
As soon as it is browned add salt and pepper.  A good amount of pepper (one teaspoon)  not so much salt.  The capers and anchovies have salt on them.
Add one cup of vinegar (red wine or balsamic[with 6% acidity] and one of water.
Cover (this is important) and let the meat cook for about an hour at lower heat (Must be simmering) adding water as needed. Again not too much just a 1/16 of a cup here and there there depending on how much moisture you are loosing.  There should be most of its juice at the end...but some loss.
When done, mix the capers and dissolve the Anchovies, and a teaspoon of Potato starch (corn starch will do) in a half cup of vinegar and 1/3 of a cup of water.  Add to the pan and make it boil again until the sauce becomes dense.
Serve.
This can be served next to or on top a bed of risotto.

Buon Appetito e Buona Sera.